UCLA men’s basketball has hired Dave Andrews as their new director of athletic performance. Andrews has worked in strength, conditioning, and athletic performance across several college football or basketball programs after playing tight end for Ohio State football in the early 2000s, helping the Buckeyes win a national championship in 2002.
Andrews has notably worked with Bruins head coach Mick Cronin when Cronin was the head coach for Cincinnati men’s basketball, working as the team’s performance coach from 2006-12. He’s also coached for Iowa State football, Pittsburgh football, Illinois football, and Notre Dame football.
“I’m very excited to join UCLA’s storied program and to reconnect with Coach Cronin,” Andrews said, via UCLA Communications. “I have seen first-hand how he went about overhauling and rebuilding the men’s basketball program at Cincinnati, more than 15 years ago, in one of the most difficult conferences ever. Joining UCLA is a terrific opportunity and I am here to make the Bruins better. It starts with the buy-in and hard work from our team’s talented young men, and we’ll strive to be at our very best. Everything that we do has a purpose, and we will hit the ground running. The summer months are important, and my number one goal is to help these young men significantly improve.”
Andrews will join a re-vamped Bruins team looking to improve off a disappointing 2023-24 campaign in which they failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Andrews is one of several new faces on the Bruins roster and staff for next season, along with Kobe Johnson, Trent Perry, Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey Jr., Dominick Harris, Tyler Bilodeau, and William Kyle III. This new group will tasked with improving a UCLA team that went 16-17 a year ago.
“Dave Andrews is an elite strength, conditioning and performance coach,” Cronin said, via UCLA Communications. “Bringing Dave back to basketball and reconnecting from our days together at Cincinnati is a tremendous coup for the UCLA men’s basketball program. Dave is talented and committed, and his passion for the student-athletes is second to none. Player development has been the backbone of our program, as we believe in providing the best for our players at UCLA. Dave’s impact will be felt immediately in our program, and we are thrilled to have him in Westwood.”
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